The smell of blood had never really bothered Yang Xing. Growing up as a farmer and horsewoman, she had been exposed to such things at a very early age. Of course, anything that had involved blood then would have been a sacrifice, the killing of a predator wolf, or the birth of a foal. Xing could never remember the smell of blood indicating a slaughter of people. It was at times like this that she wished for the ability to faint at the sight or smell of blood.
Not that she would have ever possessed that ability. Xing was the daughter of Yang Shui, one of the regional leaders of the Jiang Province. A territory unclaimed by any one man, it had been divided among all the other regional leaders and ruled as a united front. Xing was still confused about this, but as the only remaining person there with any claim to leadership, she pretended to understand and moved on. Of course, now the province had been broken up, thanks to the Yellow Turbans.
"Xing, you must go. Zhang Jiao will stop at nothing until the entire province is under his control."
She stood her ground. "Father, I am not leaving you. I can fight!" Behind her stood her mother and younger twin sisters, pleading with her to escape with them. But Xing would not run away. She would stay even if it meant her death.
Yang Shui sighed and turned to his wife. "Take the little ones and run, Cai. Xing is old enough to do as she pleases. She will meet up with you later after the rest of the women and children escape." Without another word, Xing's mother and sisters were gone. Drawing in courage with her breath, she followed her father outside to the battlefield that had once been the courtyard.
The ground was soaked with the blood of men and boys. It made Xing want to cry at the sight of so much wasted blood. But daughters of warlords did not cry. Xing had not cried since she was five, and she was not about to show such weakness to the enemy. Gripping her rapier tight in her hand and her small shield in the other, she charged into the chaos that had already consumed her father and brothers, who had charged in moments before.
"Lady Yang, why do you insist on watching al this?" A voice brought her back to today, and she turned to seeMan Zhu now standing next to her. Dressed for battle like herself, her surveyed the destruction unfolding before them. "Haven't you tired of watching the Allied Forces and the Yellow Turbans yet?"
She grinned. "You know how tired I get of this quickly. But someone must watch in case the battle turns suddenly. You of all people should know that I would never force someone else to do this."
As she spoke, two men approached her and Zhu. They gave both a low bow, which was made even lower due to the fact that Xing and Zhu were standing on top of the hill. "We have a report for you, Lady Yang," one of them said. She nodded and they both rose. "It seems that the Yellow Turban leader, Zhang Jiao, has begun using magic against the Allied Forces. His cone of power has been sent directly into the center of the army. The warriors of Shu are having a particularly hard time of it."
"Well then," Yang Xing said, turning her attention back towards the battlefield, "it seems that Zhang Jiao has resorted to cheating." She turned back to the men. "Ready all volunteers for battle. The bulk of the Shu army is below us on this hill. When I call, we shall charge into battle alongside the Allied Forces. Zhang Jiao's magic cannot affect us." The two men nodded and hurried back down the hill to the rebel force's camp.
Man Zhu stayed behind a moment. "So the time has finally come for us to have revenge on that black magician." He pulled out his sword, the sunlight making it glow red like fire. "I shall rally the volunteer rebels. Zhang Jiao will not come out alive this time." Xing did not watch him go back down the hill. Rather, she grabbed her maces from the ground and waited. She needed to clear her head of all other thoughts, trying to focus on the battle at hand. But nothing could make the burning of the mark on her back dissipate from her mind.
It took great effort for Jiang Wei to even pull his spear out of the soldier. This battle with the Yellow Turbans had been going on all day, and they weren't stopping. It was as if Zhang Jiao was using his magic to make more soldiers appear out of thin air. At least he wasn't the only one having trouble. To his left, Ma Chao was having difficulty just staying on his horse. In front, even the great Zhao Yun appeared tired.
"What is going on?" Ma Chao yelled above the roar of the armies. "It's as if all the strength as just been sucked out of my body!"
"It has to be Zhang Jiao's magic!" Jiang Wei called out to him. "How far away are we from him?"
Ma Chao looked out across the battlefield from atop his horse. "I still can't even see him. We can't be anywhere close."
Zhao Yun threw several of the soldiers off of him and moved back towards the other two. "We have to keep moving then. The only way to stop this magic is to get rid of the source."
As he said this, Yellow Turban troops surrounded them from every side. The three held their weapons tightly, ready to fight to the death. But none could shake that feeling that something bad was about to happen. The circle began to close, and each readied themselves for the attack.
It was as if the heavens themselves roared down to the battlefield. Everyone looked up to where the sound had come from. On top of the hill to the right of them stood a young woman, brandishing a mace of some kind and a shield. On either side of her were men dressed from head to toe in battle garb. At the bottom of the hill was where the roar had actually come from. For coming towards the two armies was a wave of soldiers on horses, screaming like banshees and waving their swords and spears around.
The ground beneath them shook as the massive army charged forward, straight into the heart of the Yellow Turbans. Jiang Wei, Ma Chao and Zhao Yun watched as the circle around them disappeared into a mass of black and white soldiers. As they watched, the young woman from the mountaintop rode up towards them.
"My lords, you must return to camp!" she cried above the growing roar. "Zhang Jiao has sent a spell your way that is taking your strength. Return unless you wish to die today!"
"How is his magic not affecting you, or anyone else for that matter?"
The woman frowned at Jiang Wei. "My army is not affected by his black magic, and he only sent this spell through the center of the Allied army. Unfortunately, you were the ones standing there."
"We will not leave until this battle is won!" Zhao Yun yelled. "We will not return to camp like cowards."
"You are not cowards for recognizing a weakness," she responded. "You and the rest of your army are under a spell, and there is nothing to be done except return to camp where you will be safe until it wears off. As we speak, some of my men are rounding up the other Shu officers who are under the same spell as you. Please hurry before there is no more time left!" as she finished, she turned her horse around and charged into the battle with the other black and white soldiers, who had already pushed the Yellow Turbans back past the tree line. They seemed to fight with twice the strength of the Turbans.
"Now what?" Ma Chao asked, still clearly winded from the so-called spell.
"We return to camp," Jiang Wei answered. "We must do as the young woman says. We will find out if what she says is true when we get back to camp." With this, he called to the rest of his troops to fall back, and Ma Chao and Zhao Yun did the same. Each soldier seemed relieved to do so, also appearing tired and winded like they were.
The young woman was right. By the time they got back to the camp, many of the other Shu officers were slumped all over the place. There were several Wu and Wei officers as well, also looking overly fatigued and ready to collapse. Because so many were already there, few acknowledged the three as they stumbled into camp. They found Liu Bei and his brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, sitting close by, and chose to drop there.
"I'm glad you three made it back safely," Liu Bei said as they all sat down. "I was worried that the rebel army had not found you yet."
"I think they found us first," Zhao Yun said. "But we were the farthest away from camp, so it took us longer to get here under these conditions."
Guan Yu nodded. "We will have to wait until the rebel army returns to find out about this magic that Zhang Jiao has cast. They seemed knowledgeable of his power and what was happening to us, so I hope they return soon to help us get rid of its effects."
"They're a strange looking bunch if you ask me," Zhang Fei added. "Very funny looking fellow came up and told us to return to camp. Yellow hair like I've never seen before with darker skin then mine! I didn't think it was possible." He looked up at the others. "What about you?"
"A woman told us," Jiang Wei answered. "I didn't get a real good look at her, but she didn't seem strange to me. Well, besides the fact that she seemed to lead the army of rebels." Zhao Yun nodded and Ma Chao grunted. "They seemed to come from nowhere, but they drove the Yellow Turbans back with such force, I thought they were demons at first."
Liu Bei nodded. "I thought the same thing. The young man had no sooner told us to return to camp then he charged into battle. We had not even turned around before the Yellow Turbans had been pushed back many yards away. I wonder how they fared with the rest of the battle."
The sound of cheers turned the group towards the entrance to the camp. A mix of red, green, blue, and yellow were marching into the camp, cheering of victory for the Allied Forces. Among them were a handful of the black and white soldiers, including the blonde man and the young woman, who followed behind the head officers. But leading the pack was a very proud Yuan Shao, raising a stick in the air with the head of Zhang Jiao sitting on the top.